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Tonight I have for you a super-awesome review of a beauty box I was sent. Beauty Box Five is a beauty subscription not unlike Birchbox. For $12 a month, you get 4 or 5 deluxe beauty samples (tiny little versions of the product, not those god-awful little packets) in the mail. Just as with any beauty box subscription, it’s like Christmas each month. Where Beauty Box Five differs though, is quality and quantity. I’ll get into that more below.

Beauty Box Five differs from most beauty boxes with its packaging. Others tend to come in an outer shipping box, and the inner box with the products inside. Beauty Box Five takes the extra packaging out, and holds the products in the shipping box, saving some cardboard resources and making it one less layer to your goodies.

It arrives on your doorstep as a pristine Tiffany blue little box. That’s another thing I noticed — it’s tiny! It’s about the size of my hand, which is smaaaaaall. At first this worried me. Then I opened it.

Inside is a mesh bag with all of your goodies inside, on top of, and surrounded by dark brown/black shredded, crinkly paper that keeps your items from bouncing around inside, which is absolutely adorable and genius. The color scheme and packaging of BB5 is so on my level. Unlike other subscription services, there is no cheat sheet in your box to tell you about your items, there’s simply a thank you card that directs you to your product information online. Again, saving some resources. I like that.

Inside is a mesh bag with all of your products, which is again, resourceful and reusable. This way, your stuff isn’t flying around the inside of an un-stuffed, bigger box. *coughBirchboxcough* Anyway, let’s take a look.

Blinc | Mascara | Full size: $26 for .21oz

Beauty Box Five website says:

Finally a no-hassle, no-smudge, water-resistant mascara that you don’t have to re-apply! Great for those with sensitive eyes and contact-wearers, this non-irritating mascara actually creates tubes around your lashes that will even wear through a workout! To apply, just remove the wand and apply to lashes!

I was given this sample in my Birchbox, though the one in my Birchbox was much bigger. Blinc is a really good brand for waterproof eyeliner and mascara. I use the mascara often, and if I could find my eyeliner, I’d use that at well.

City Lips | Lip plumper, clear | Full size: $35

From the Beauty Box Five website:

Visibly plumper lips are just minutes away with this amazing, power-packed plumper! Simply apply and watch, your lips will become fuller as the minutes pass and the results will typically last four to six hours! What’s better? CITY Lips has proven long-term benefits. Used twice daily, CITY Lips users have seen plumper, fuller lips in only 30 days!

Oh, lip plumpers… I’m not a fan. This one isn’t too bad. It tastes like vanilla and doesn’t sting too bad. It just feels really warm and tingly. I don’t like the taste/smell, but there has to be menthol in here somewhere, because my cold let up a teeny bit. Actually… now that I’m wearing it a little longer, it is kind of burning. I hate these things. I’d rather use contouring and highlighting to create the illusion of fuller lips. This one is clear, and has a brush applicator, where the full size also comes in colored versions and have a doe foot applicator.

Bodyography | Foundation Primer | Full size: $30

From the Beauty Box website:

This multi-purpose foundation primer (which is packed with anti-oxidants and vitamins) extends the wear of foundation, fills in fine lines and pores, helps prevent collagen breakdown AND aids in the evening out of skin tone!

This is a clear foundation primer which I believe is silicone-based, or at least feels like it is. It’s got that lovely silky feel and a smooth matte finish. It smells like maybe jasmine or camomile or baby powder. It’s relaxing and it doesn’t last long, but it does smell a little “old lady-ish”, which some people may not like. As a primer, it’s pretty good. Nothing outstanding compared to MUFE, Urban Decay, or Lancôme. But it’s definitely on par with them, at a tad bit lower price point.

I didn’t get to try this for too long, maybe one or two days, but I liked it. It was soft and gentle, but really did it’s job well. I like the scent. It smells really clean and not chemical at all. The scent is actually very akin to Lancôme’s Nutrix Royal body cream. Very relaxing, but not long lasting, so it doesn’t disrupt any of your perfumes or oils.

Lash Card | Mascara Sheilds | Full size: $6.99 for a 10 pack.

From the Beauty Box Five website:

Minimizing those mascara mistakes has never been easier! Great for maximizing curl, separating lashes and avoiding those bottom lash mishaps, these discrete little cards are your lashes new best friend!

These little things are nifty, and I think they should come in a hygienic plastic version for use on clients. They do their job and they do it well, but I just don’t find where I would actually need them. Most people don’t have an issue with applying mascara. The only reason I could really think they’d come in handy were if you were to use a mascara with a large brush, like DiorShow or Revlon Grow Luscious by FabuLash. You know, the ones with the wand that’s as big as your eye? I love those ones. But they can make a mess. I did find that using the shields on your under eyes for coating the bottom lashes was extremely helpful, seeing as that’s where you’ll most likely fudge up, or holding it in a way to protect your inner eye area/nose when you get the inside lashes. But in the end, it’s an extra hand that you need, which makes it kind of difficult at times, and not truly worth it. Makeup Artists though, may benefit from it if they find they have issues with applying mascara to clients.

Alrighty! That’s the last product in the box! Let’s sum everything up:

Packaging: Beauty Box Five, I think has the best packaging in the beauty subscription world. It’s not too fancy or wasteful, and while you’re getting the same amount of samples, you just feel like you’re getting more because the box is smaller and your products are surrounded by that dark Easter grass stuff, where Birchbox, you have a too-big box that doesn’t support it’s contents, allow it’s contents to slip and slide around at it’s own free will. BB5 packaging is smaller and less wasteful, and while they don’t seem to claim that, nor do they claim that their boxes are reusable and resourceful, as Birchbox says, these are far more conservative and eco-friendly.

Quantity: You receive 4-5 items per box, I received five in this box.

Quality: For $12 a month ($2 more per month than Birchbox), you’re getting the same amount of product in deluxe sample sizes with no extra “lifestyle” products like Birchbox just love to give out. For me, that’s fine. I’m not looking for headphones or granola bars, I’m looking for beauty products. Beauty Box Five seems like a much more intimate experience, and their Beauty Profile that your boxes are based off of are much more detailed, and therefore your boxes are (hopefully) more custom. I did find myself wish I had the product card in front of me, but only for the prices for full-size versions as well as the size of full-size product. In terms of product description, I find that the packaging on the products themselves explain enough for me. The rest I can read online.

I find this list to be impressive, but not over the top. Many box subscription companies list brands that they feature once with weak examples, then never send again, yet still claim them. I’d love to see something from brands like Becca, MakeupGeek, Weleda, La Fresh, and definitely Travalo (the travel-perfume thing!). Another great one is Cetaphil, a great consumer brand. Other brands on the list like Tree Hut, Freeman, It’s A 10, and Evie Evan I’ve either never heard of, or I’ve heard of but have never been able to try.

Final Thoughts: Well, as of an hour ago, I’m now a BB5 subscriber, and I intend on giving them a few more months to sway me, but as of right now, I find BB5 to be much more intimate, with small, eco-chic and adorable packaging of the box, and worth the price. That being said, $12 just sounds so much more than $10 for the same amount of products as other brands.

If you’re interested in checking out Beauty Box Five yourself, I’ve included my referral link below for you to check out!

This was one of my most exciting reviews to date, and I want to thank BB5 for giving me the chance to review their company. As always I went into this unbiased, and was pleasantly surprised. I plan on keeping you guys updated on my subscription with BB5, hopefully with first-impression videos, as well as catching up with my Birchbox posts so you can compare the two yourself. This post was a long time coming, and I’m so happy to finally share it with you. Please let me know what you think, and any suggestions on what you’d like to see done differently!

Have a lovely day!
~ Britni Rose

This product was sent to me for review. For more information on my product reviews, please see my Disclosure policy.